A Look At Scandal's Day-to-day Victims

Now that high-flying lawyer Scott Rothstein faces investigations into whether he ran a Ponzi scheme, many involved with his other business ventures worry about whether they will get paid or still have a place to work.

Staff members remaining at the Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm don't expect paychecks. Dozens at Bova restaurants in Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton fret about their futures. And plans for swanky new Bova outlets in Fort Lauderdale and Miami Beach appear grounded.

"There are a lot of people who are going to be out of a job," said Christian Prakas, a Boca Raton real estate broker who handled a recent lease on a Boca Raton restaurant property owned by a Rothstein company.

Prakas especially fears for workers who are developing the new Bovas and preparing to reopen Bova Ristorante, which closed last month at 1450 N. Federal Highway in Boca Raton, leaving at least 60 jobless.

Rothstein took stakes in the past two years in at least half a dozen businesses that complemented his flashy lifestyle: restaurants, a premium vodka maker and a watch maker, to name a few. Just three weeks ago, he announced the startup of RRA Sports & Entertainment, a celebrity marketing firm.

Associates said expensive projects, including the splashy Bova planned for the former Versace mansion in South Beach, probably won't start.

Scratch, too, plans the firm announced to open offices "in London, Switzerland, Boston and Providence before the third quarter of 2010."

Less affected will be firms and charities that received ads, donations and sponsorships from his varied ventures.

Even next year's Super Bowl might be a little less flush. Host Committee Chairman Rodney Barreto said he asked Rothstein months ago to join his group, to open doors to sponsors. Rothstein agreed but did not attend meetings or provide referrals.

"He was a force, don't kid yourself," Barreto said.

Outside his law firm, which employed about 150, Rothstein's problems seem most visible at the Bova group.

The party-loving lawyer frequented Anthony Bova's popular eatery in Boca Raton. When neighbors complained last year that Bova's Thursday night fetes were too loud, Rothstein offered to help and then to invest.

The group soon added the upscale Bova Prime at 401 E. Las Olas Blvd., the same office building where Rothstein had his law firm. The group then renamed the former Mario's of Boca as Bova Cucina. It lured Fort Lauderdale restaurateur Jack Jackson to close his Las Olas steakhouse and plan a Bova Smoke cigar bar and eatery there. And it invested in the former Versace home.

By mid-October, employment at Bova group topped 200, according to restaurant executives.

By some estimates, the group planned to spend more than $20 million for property, leases and furnishings after Rothstein invested last year: $5 million for Bova Prime, at least $4 million for Bova Smoke and more than $12 million at Versace's - despite the recession.

It also was advertising: One restaurant analyst estimated $65,000 a month on billboards, magazines and other media.

Rothstein fanned his celebrity image - and new ventures - with help from Kip Hunter Marketing. Hunter had been the top sales executive for the Miami Heat and worked with the Dan Marino Foundation. Her contacts, for example, helped line up Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown for a weekly radio show from Bova Prime.

Stone said the political consultancy was "a great idea that never gelled," with no clients and no bank account. Stone said he distanced himself last year amid concerns about Rothstein's free-spending ways.

Other Rothstein associates now are tight-lipped, not returning calls, or saying, "No comment."

But many employees at his ventures are talking, sending out resumes and seeking jobs elsewhere.

Some of Rothstein's losses could be another's gain. Fort Lauderdale lawyer Michael Feldstein said he is expanding his offices and can rent space to departing Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm staff members who want to work on their own. He hopes some in the group might affiliate formally later, "when the smoke clears" on the firm and its liability, Feinstein said.

Concerns run deep. Real estate broker Prakas said a check he received from a Rothstein company for part of his lease commission just bounced. He plans to place a lien on the property at Dixie Highway and Glades Road.

"And mine's a small problem," Prakas said, "compared to the millions of dollars that people say he stole from them."